I went to charge the Optima red top battery in my IROC the other day after it got drained down real hard (the car sat for months) and I noticed that it was taking forever to get up to 100% charge. Well I let it go for a few more hours and I came back and it was still only at 90% or so and it was boiling! I could hear it sizzling and it was hot to the touch!

The next day I tried charging it again and found that it did the same thing. Haven't drven the car.

I'm thinking this battery is toast. It's crazy because I just had it replaced under warranty last year or so...I have drained it down hard a few times since then car just sits (awaiting a paint job for the last 2.5 years).

Should I get this swapped out? I don't want to drive the car with it and have it blow up or something.

I think it might be a time for a yellow top and/or a trickle charger...

What do you guys think? Is the battery hosed?

 

If your charger was charging at a high rate and has no automatic compensation for state of charge, that might happen. Personally, I think the Optima batteries are overrated and not so "optimal". They rate low on my bang for the buck scale. They seem to have just as many problems as normal (and less costly) batteries.

 

My charger is a pretty good one. It's a Sears (problably Schumaker) 2/10/50 automatic charger. It supposedly senses when the battery approaches 100% and steps down to a trickle charge of 2 amps. I've used it numerous times and you can see when it gets to this stage as the needle keeps pegging the red then backing off in order to keep the battery from overcharging. Works well.

I think whats happening with my Optima now is that it's not quite getting to that stage where it starts to back down to 2 amps. So it's sitting at 90% and baking. I'm now charging it at 2 amps, but it looks like I'm not getting a full charge on my battery regardless.

I'm sure Optimas are great for certain applications, but I haven't been impressed with the red top's resilience from a full dishcarge. I have abused it a little, but I expected to handle it better.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I had a similar problem with my yellowtop in my Jeep (I have the yellowtop to run the winch) I used the winch for a total of maybe 30 sec one night and the next morning the battery was dead and wouldnt hold a chage. I went to return it and they gave me a little hassle about swapping it even though I was well within the year warranty but they finally agreed. I am not as comfortable with this battery anymre even though I have a new one in the Jeep I dont want this thng to leave me stranded. Thats the whole reason I dropped almost $200 on this yellow top. Shoebox what is your recomended battery? I am hearing a lot of people that share your lack of brand support for optima.

Thanks,

 

I also got hassled when I returned my first Red top for a warranty swap. The guy lectured me about keeping a battery hooked up in a car that I don't run often. I told him it had only sat for a few months...not a big deal, IMO. That's why I paid $110 for the battery in the first place.

I'm torn on what brand to buy also. In fact, my 02 Dakota's battery is shot and I'll be buying a battery for it tonight. I would like another Optima as it calls for the same size batt. as my IROC (makes quick swaps between cars easy), but I haven't been impressed with these so far.

 

My Red Top lasted 6 months with intermittent use. The shop that does my engine work has a junk battery pile, and most of them are Optimas. They recommended the Delco Professional series, and that one has been trouble free for 6 years, including extended periods of non-use.

 

When I tried to get my red top replaced under warranty, I was hassled as well. I will never purchase another Optima again, personally, I think they are overrated. I'll just stick with the Delcos for now on.

 

Looks like there's a pattern here with the hassling. What I may buy tonight for my Dakota is a group 75 Autozone Duralast Gold with dual terminals since this will fit in my IROC also. I've had great luck with these batteries in my previous vehicles and the 3 year free replacement warranty is great...in Florida I need that since I rarely get more than 3 years out of a daily used battery.

 

Any gel cell or spiral cell battery needs to be charged on a low amp charge there are special chargers for such batteries and I would recomend buying one if you have an optima or other such battery.

In a camaro in the stock battery location I don't see much advantage unless you relocate the battery somewhere else. Optima batteries are great for 2 reasons.

1 they can be mounted anywhere in any position and will never spill

2 they are as powerfull as a general wet cell... something you wouldn't have had 10 years ago.

The battery is a perfect choice for off road applications and are a must for rock crawling!

 

I had a Interstate battery. Lasted me many years. Great battery. Now days I can't seem to find them. My co-worker has a interstate battery. He says he's had it in his car for 7 years. Don't know what he's smoking but it must be good.

 

Interstate's are the only battery I will ever buy(if I have a choice)

and we sell them at my work

I agree that optimas need to be trickle charged, anything else will kill them




look in the phone book, you can buy them retail at the interstate battery stores/warehouses

 

Here's some info on auto batteries.


Most auto batteries are made by just three manufacturers, Delphi, Exide, and Johnson Controls Industries. Each makes batteries sold under several different brand names.

Delphi makes ACDelco and some EverStart (Wal-Mart) models. Exide makes Champion, Exide, Napa, and some EverStart batteries. Johnson Controls makes Diehard (Sears), Duralast (AutoZone), Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Motorcraft (Ford), and some EverStarts.

 

yes get a new batterie. and try to drive it once in a while so it dosnt get all ran down.

 

I have not seen a diehard in the last 10 years that wasn't junk from new, I would never buy one

I have only seen 2 bad interstates, and one of those had a hole in the case from a collision

 

Just passing on what I picked up on Google.